Editor's Opinion

Sustainable agriculture. It is a term that is beginning to be noticed by many people around the world.
As large fields of crops die because of floods or drought, and farm animals die of thirst or hunger, sustainable farming is actually making a comeback.
It is not a new concept, but a very old one. Farming that sustained a family and a community, not the world. Farming that took only what it needed to grow and thrive, not square miles of land that needed constant cultivating, pesticides, chemicals and an enormous amount of water.
The farmer knew what crops worked well and what time of the year to plant. He did not try to plant water hungry crops in a desert. He planted crops that were sustainable for the land and climate he lived. He planted for himself and for trade within his community.
Then along come modern farming with all of the technical know-how and modern day equipment. Farming no longer was sustainable because water could be diverted from rivers and streams to irrigate, read that as “waste”, large plots of desert. Now the farmer could even grow rice in the desert.
Problems arise when drought conditions prevail, water tables drop, snow fall is light, and the rivers and streams dry up.
This is a scenario that is being seen around the world. Rain is not falling when it should. When it does finally arrive, it is either too little, or a raging flood which destroys everything in its path. Even camels are dying of thirst in some parts of the world.
So now the return to sustainable farming is beginning to take hold again. Small farms with crops that feed a family and a community. Small farms that do not use huge amounts of pesticides, herbicides and water. Small farms that plant what the climate dictates, not what a corporation dictates.

Editor

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